Housework as Spiritual Practice

I used to tell myself that a smaller home was what I wanted because "who would want to clean all that?"  I love our big house on the wooded creek lot.  It is only the two of us but the space is wonderful!  We have room to retreat and create individual space when we need it, have enough space to entertain, and it was fun decorating for Christmas this year.  Our house is older and has this amazing character - no modern designs for us yet!  Both of us enjoy the fact that it is ours and we are creating space that is unique to us as a couple.

Yesterday I decided to tackle some things that needed my attention.  I even changed this sentence from "chores I had been putting off" because my attitude did not match that sentiment.  I turned on dance music, grabbed a broom, and boogied my way through the next two hours of housework.  Nothing like some good nightclub music to get your body moving!  I did not think about what I was doing...I just went with the feelings.  I realized that each time I completed even a small task it was an expression of my own abilities and desire to make a comfortable home for the couple that lives here. It was also love for life that motivated me and a celebration for the gifts I have been given.  I believe that when we are grateful for the people and things that are in our life we care for them. The energy of love changes all things.

Power from Within

Sitting alone on the balcony before dawn this morning, I reflected on where I was at this moment.  Not yesterday, not tomorrow.  Feeling the coolness of the air touching my skin, watching the sky whisper with the  glow of sunlight, I realized my soul was quiet.  Taking some deep breaths, I allowed my gratitude to fill my lungs, connecting with what was going on in my body.  I realized the backache and hip pain has left me.  Sipping my coffee and listening to the morning energy in the complex rev up, I gave thanks for many things.  The fact that my daughter and I are attending physical therapy together and both taking responsibility for the pain of inactivity.  We have been doing it for weeks, but yesterday it dawned on me how important doing that together is to me.  Anytime you can have an intimate moment with a teenager should be a blessing! 

Life is about relating, relationships.  How I see myself with you.  What I feel with you, in a certain situation, or practicing a certain behavior.  But I have to slow down to experience it.  Learning to relate to myself, finding out who I truly am, what I really believe, and evaluating whether I want to continue thinking the way I do, is important to my growth.  It is when I am able to embrace all of me, that I learn to embrace you with my spirit.  What I don't accept in myself, I fear in others. For when I judge you, I am really connecting personally to something I recognize but don't want to see in myself.

Today I had the awareness that I still have moments of trance-like existence while in the same breath realizing how alive I really am. The knowledge that I have changed dramatically yet slowly are found in those Ah Ha! moments when I look back and wonder WHEN I changed.  I capture those moments in a journal because I need to see evidence of that change.  My self esteem grows when I can look at the things that I have accomplished by looking for what no longer works in my life and discarding it to make room for new behaviors.  I find peace in this practice for it is the substance of who I am and what I am capable of.

Find a Place of Joy

What is proper behavior?  Most of us walk through life with a preoccupation that others are watching and judging us each step of the way.  Who is really doing the judging though?  Is it the voice of a family member telling us we need to act more mature?  We get stuck in trying to behave in a "proper" manner without really asking ourselves "WHAT DO I WANT? WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY?"   Sometimes all we need to do is allow the child in us to run free.  When we let go of our fears of how we look to others and live solely in the moment, it changes our perspective on the entire world.  How can you worry about the future when you are living fully in the now?  Why not take some time today to pull out a pen and paper and write down what truly makes you happy?